Belt driven fan clutches have been used as standard equipment on many vehicles for decades. However, the automotive clutch market is diminishing as other more efficient options are hitting the market and being demanded by consumers.
Fan Clutches are ‘fluid’ coupling devices that provide air flow through the radiator by using the water pump shaft to power the fan blade. When the pump is cool or at normal operating temperature, the fan clutch will partially disengage. However, due to only partially disengaging they will always be spinning at about 30% of the water pump speed at all times. When compared to an electric fan, fan clutches are quite inefficient.